Rosh Hashanah 11 - When was the world created?

The Holiday of Rosh Hashanah, or New Year, is celebrated on the first day of the seventh month. It is the day of judgment and introspection and also of the blowing of the shofar. This day also marks the creation of the world and of mankind. That is the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer. What is his proof? "God said, 'The earth shall send forth vegetation." This suggests that the land of covered with mature vegetation. Which month is that? It is the fall month of Tishrei.

Rabbi Yehoshuah interprets the same verse differently. "Earth send forth vegetation" means the land that is only beginning to bring forth vegetation, and this is the spring month of Nisan. So in his opinion, the world was created in Nisan.

Rabbi Eliezer places other events also in Tishrei. This month, Abraham and Jacob were born, Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered, and Joseph went out of the Egyptian prison. The text of Rosh Hashanah's prayers accepted today follows the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer.

Art: Country Spring by Alfred Sisley